Episodes

Learning a new skill can be a daunting task, with programming being especially tricky. But what can you do when most learning materials and tools aren't accessible to you? Blind backend developer Parham Doustdar joins us to talk about how he taught himself to program, the challenges he faced and his advice for other visually impaired developers. We also look at the ways educational resources and programming as a whole can be made more accessible, opening up technology to eager new learners...

For people learning programming languages for the first time moving beyond in browser tutorials can be a major hurdle to success. Quincy Larson joins us to look at his free, open source learning platform FreeCodeCamp.org and talks us through the challenges he faced founding the project. We also look at common challenges to learners and how the tech industry can better support new coders.

As part of our series looking at working for yourself, the founder of WeddingLovely and publisher of the popular Hello Web Books series Tracy Osborn joins us to talk about balancing writing a book while working for yourself. Tracy talks us through the logistics of writing, publishing and marketing a book in detail while sharing how she balances running her own business alongside her writing.

Thinking about getting into freelancing and wondering what the long term impacts of working for yourself might be? Or perhaps you've been working for yourself for some time and want to see how your experiences stack up? Battle-scarred veteran freelancer Remy Sharp of Left Logic joins us to talk about the challenges of working for yourself long term. We'll look at isolation, avoidance and motivation, offering tips and tricks to help you do more.

One of the hardest parts of working for yourself can be moving on from an idea or project you love. This week, internationally renowned speaker and consultant Kim Crayton joins us to talk about her moves through several industries into technology, onto conference stages around the world and her most recent pivot into business skills consulting.

Want to start working for yourself but not sure how to fit it all into a workday? Or you're already working for yourself and want to better manage your busy schedule? Expert consultant, internationally recognized speaker and co-founder of Perch CMS Rachel Andrew joins us to talk about being busy, fitting it all in and work/life balance.

Ever wanted to quit your job and work for yourself, on projects of your choosing? International speaker, trainer, consultant and front end expert Sara Soueidan joins us to talk about the benefits and challenges of becoming a contractor. We'll look at contracting advice born of her experiences that you can apply to your escape from the rat race or just to learn more about tech contracting.

Ever wonder how to walk away from the open source project you've built, loved and maintained? John Resig, the creator of jQuery, joins us to talk about how to say goodbye. We'll look at what leaving your project feels like, how to do it in a healthy way and what moving on can bring to your life.

Dan Abramov a maintainer and of the popular React JavaScript library joins us to talk about the challenges and rewards of maintaining a popular open source project. He offers insights into the way the Facbook react team works to support React and respond to user needs, while offering you advice for your own large or small open source projects.

Love open source? Looking to break into the tech industry? Oracle's Vaishali Thakkar joins us to talk about how you can leverage your open source involvement to find work in the tech industry. We'll look at programs like Rails Girls Summer of Code and Outreachy that could be able to pay you as you upskill intro the industry alongside Vaishali's own professional journey.

Ever wondered how to take that first step into open source?
Nadia Odunayo joins us to talk about 24 Pull Requests, her work with open source and speakerline.io, her project to make public speaking more accessible. We'll look at what newbies need to know, as well as how open source projects friendlier and more welcoming for folks new to open source.

Love your side project, but still need to pay the bills? This week we talk with Suw of Ada Lovelace Day She talks us through the process of experimenting to find what works and monetizing your projects to become stable, income producing work. Learn more about her work with findingada.com and share in the learnings from her path to make her passion for inclusive representation her full time job.

Bureaucracy can be soul destroying. Finding ways to navigate (or even to subvert) it before it destroys you is the only way forward. Terence Eden talks us though his battle with the Unicode Consortium as part of a bid to have new emoji/characters added. Did he succeed? Did he survive? Listen to find out.

Ashley Bischoff joins us this week to look at accessibility in writing for the web and across technology. Writing in ways that can be easily understood by readers and users of varying literacy skill levels, from different language backgrounds and cognitive challenges allows as many people as possible to share your vision and access what you’ve built. We’ll examine techniques and tooling for writing accessibly, including bit.ly.com/readabilityanalyzer
Ashley can be found on the web at...

International speaker, consultant and lauded CSS expert Harry Roberts joins us to talk about his experiences in entering the tech industry without a degree. He talks us through the value of blogging as a way to build an audience, the challenges of getting into the tech industry and more.

Ever wondered if you have the skills to make the jump into management? We're joined by Davide Casali of Automattic to learn about the skills and motivations a good manager bring to their team. Davide is a speaker, writer, mentor and technologist of many talents currently working to design better product experiences. You can find more of Davide's wisdom at https://intenseminimalism.com/

This episode we're joined by international speaker, open source maven and startup founder Safia Abdalla. She walks us through her experiences founding and running Tanmu Labs and the challenges behind delivering Zarf, her subscription content platform. Safia offers her advice for new and hopeful startup founders, looking at work/life balance, user feedback and more.

Last week we talked about writing and researching a talk to get you onto a tech conference stage. This episode we're joined by speaking coach and leadership consultant Andrew Lightheart to talk about his work and how to confidently get through your first talk. Andrew walks us through what makes a great talk and small hacks to make your talk pop on stage as well as looking at leadership, coaching and the pressures of writing a book. If you wanted more of Andrew's advice his book on speaking...

Ever wanted to get on stage and share what you know with the world? Guest Stuart Langridge joins us to talk about writing, researching and giving your first talk. We look at the value of meetups and local community events in your speaking career, how to get up on that first conference stage and how to stay cool up there. Stuart is a web expert, writer, consultant and podcaster based in the UK. Our next episode will look at tips and tricks for giving a great talk once you've gotten to that...

Katie is the Last Nerd Standing (CTO) at a startup that focuses on language and education. She spoke with us about dropping out of college, working as a NASA contractor and becoming a CTO. Katie offers a perspective on getting into and staying in tech without a degree based on incredible talent, great timing and hard work. When she's not coding or trying to remember what the heck a gerund is, she knits, sews, and writes fantasy novels that will probably never see the light of day. She...

Duration:00:35:23

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